Tag: Sarah Shahi in pantyhose

In the ongoing battle between pantyhose and “bear” legs, I’m no expert (wait a minute … yes, I am), but it seems these days we’re in a one step forward, one step back situation.

Lately, I’ve learned how to keep my blood pressure from spiking out of control: I don’t watch movies or TV shows that I intuitively know are going to piss me off because the actresses who should be wearing pantyhose likely ain’t gonna be.

Case in point: I steered clear of last Sunday’s American Music Awards (AMA) show because I knew it would disappoint me. However, I did DVR it so that I could later blow past stupid commercials and much of the ugliness that this freak show has become.

Note: Pitbull should never be a host. He’s too much in love with himself, and other than singing, does he have any real talent? I think not. Second, much of what they were calling entertainment doesn’t sound like music to me. More like a train wreck maybe.

I actually worry that other countries will see the AMA show and wonder what happened to America? With a few notable exceptions, looking at how the presenters, guests and performers dressed and conducted themselves, it appears that values, decency and class are disappearing from pop culture. If what I glimpsed is any indication of what the future holds for this country, I’d prefer that the big meteor crash into Earth now, wiping out … oh, I don’t know … most of the population?

Naturally, I got what I expected out of the AMAs: Most of the female artists (including Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez, both of whom I hoped wouldn’t disappoint me) wore beautiful gowns and fabulous heels, but no pantyhose.

Professional singer, dancer and actress Jennifer Lopez delivers a high-octane performance during the 2014 AMAs.

Only the two I thought would — Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande — wore pantyhose. (OK, and so did Iggy Azalea during her performance with J-Lo, so I give her credit “wear” credit is due).

DISCLAIMER: Again, I didn’t actually watch the AMA show, but instead fast-forwarded at 4-speed on the DVR remote, stopping only when something promising-looking caught my eye. Thus, if I missed a female presenter or performer who actually was wearing pantyhose, feel free to correct me in your comments. And, if I diss one of your favorite stars just because she was bear-legged, hey, this is a pantyhose blog. It’s what I do!

J-Lo always delivers a high-energy, exciting performance, and the vast majority of the time, she shows professionalism and class in wearing pantyhose with her outfits on stage. For those reasons, I am always interested in seeing her perform.

Always professional and classy, singer/actor Ariana Grande dazzled during the AMAs.

But the artist who stole the show (for me, anyway) was Ariana Grande. Amazing that it’s just about the youngest performer out there who consistently is the most professional and classiest of them all. I love this girl. Now, I have to say her voice makes me want to pull my hair out, and I can’t understand 90 percent of her lyrics (which, actually, might be a good thing), but I am extremely impressed with Ariana for sticking to her core values (or, at least, her good taste), always wearing cute outfits, high heels and her signature suntan sheer pantyhose.

During the AMA show performance, Ariana was part of a threesome that included Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. Jessie J usually is very pantyhose-friendly, but she didn’t wear for this number, and neither did Minaj. I know nothing about Minaj, so I have no idea whether she typically wears or doesn’t.

But I know this: Jessie J and Nicki Minaj might want to rethink the idea of performing alongside Ariana because they looked awful next to her. I think, anyway.

From left, Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande perform a number together during the AMAs.

My eyes were glued on Ariana only, and I suspect that also was the case among most men watching the performance. Ariana is tiny next to Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, but with her professionalism and class, she stood (figuratively) 10 feet taller than them.

Think I am overdoing it with my praise for Ariana? Here’s the thing: If pantyhose are going to win the battle against the bear-legs crowd, we need a superstar celeb who consistently wears pantyhose on stage, to awards shows, as a guest on television specials, and even just out-and-about. Ariana has showed many times that she is a devoted wearer.

Actress/singer Selena Gomez is one of the more devoted pantyhose wearers, even out-and-about.

Taylor Swift appears to be 50-50 at best. In pantyhose, she looks awesome, but she’s not consistent in wearing during concert performances or anywhere else. Of course, she does sometimes and looks great in those cases, but then she arbitrarily shows up on the biggest entertainment stages bear-legged.

On the other hand, Selena Gomez is far more consistent in wearing pantyhose for all the right occasions and venues. Selena might be a close second to Ariana as a dedicated pantyhose wearer, including when she’s just out and about. And, like Ariana, when Selena wears, she looks stunningly beautiful.

Of course, longtime readers here know that I’ve praised Katy Perry big-time in this blog. Yet, too many times, I’ve seen photos of Katy on stage and off in bear legs. I still love Katy, but she’s just not as consistent a wearer as Ariana.

Let me tell you something: Ariana is the real deal. She might be the one performer who truly sets a good (and right) example for her legions of adoring young fans. When those girls become 17, 18 and older, they might be more likely to wear pantyhose to emulate their idol.

Besides Ariana, is there a celebrity we could describe as a truly consistent pantyhose wearer? If there is one, it’s Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton. Pantyhose sales throughout the UK and to some extent, the U.S., already are thriving again thanks to her. Kate should win the Nobel Peace prize for that.

Actress Sofia Vergara almost always wears pantyhose for all the right reasons.

Certainly, Zoey Deschanel has demonstrated she is a devoted pantyhose wearer. I’m sure she has appeared bear-legged once or twice on TV shows, movies or at public appearances, but in those cases, I’d have to believe the venue called for a more casual look. Otherwise, Zoey must be one of the most dedicated and consistent pantyhose wearers anywhere.

The other day, I saw her in a TV commercial for Rooms ToGo, and it looked as if she were wearing nude pantyhose, but the few pictures of that ad I could find online weren’t of a high enough resolution, and she looked to be (gasp) bear-legged.

Sofia, a consistent pantyhose wearer? You’d have to say yes, but I couldn’t believe the number of pics I found of her in bear legs during publicity appearances.

One step forward, one step back

Seems we have a long way to go still. You can look on the Internet and find millions of pictures of celebrities and real women wearing pantyhose. There are so many, I sometimes wonder how the bear-legs culture is still around.

Taylor Swift inexplicably goes bare-legged in an elegant evening gown (which gave way to a sexy little slip or something). Those bare legs look awful with her outfit and the otherwise formal set during her performance at the AMAs.

But then on the world’s biggest stages, including the AMA show, presumably, the grandest show of the year for celebrities in the music industry, Taylor Swift and the overwhelming majority of women show up bear-legged. Why is that? I think it’s because today too many celebs still have a bear-legs consciousness. When the movement dawned during the late 1990s to early 2000s, the concept of bears legs was a bit shocking, but soon enough women from all walks of life jumped on the bandwagon. Once the excuse to not wear pantyhose was out there, it quickly took roots among almost all women.

Of course, it’s pretty clear now that pantyhose are making a big comeback. Nothing in the fashion world lasts forever. What’s hot turns cold, and what’s cold eventually turns hot. I have every confidence that pantyhose will some day be the preferred look again. We can see evidence of that everywhere we look. But, as long as there is some measure of doubt about what’s “in” today, we’ll see inconsistency among even those celebs we would view as devoted wearers. Many of them just don’t have the conviction yet, and so they aren’t sure which way to go. And, not wanting to appear out of touch, it seems that they choose the lesser course to be safe.

While that is frustrating, I still find this to be an exciting time. When a celebrity shows up at an event wearing pantyhose, it’s a thrill. Now, it’s like the celebs who wear are the cool ones since everyone else is doing the same old bear-legs thing. The ones who wear today are like the first ones to not wear. They are now challenging what became the norm just a decade or so ago. That will cause a stir and create doubt the other way — that perhaps women should be wearing pantyhose today.

A treat when pantyhose show up unexpectedly

That was the headline of my post (May 16, 2011) that featured South Korean model and actress Jun Ji-hyun, starring in the movie, “Blood: The Last Vampire?” I was reminded of that headline this past Sunday, when I watched “Talking Dead,” the post-show to AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” in which host Chris Hardwick and a few guests analyze that night’s preceding episode. Usually, the guests (often at least one from the cast of TWD) don’t exactly dress up, and lately, I’ve been skipping the post-show. But as that night’s episode of TWD was ending, the network flashed a quick peak at what was to come on TD and I caught a glimpse of a guest wearing what I thought might be sheer nude pantyhose.

And, wow, did she look incredibly gorgeous. I like her character, Rosita, but I had no idea who the actress is because I had never seen her in anything other than TWD. I’ve since learned she is, (or was maybe) on “Twilight.” I don’t really know because I’ve never seen a single episode of that TV series (or is it a movie, or movies?). Obviously, I don’t have anything against vampires. I just don’t care for the whole young romance theme, which Twilight appears to be about from scenes I’ve noticed during promotions.

Anyway, Christian Serratos is petite (like me) and, as Rosita on TWD, she’s the most feminine of the female characters, her signature outfit being shorts and a cropped shirt that exposes her midriff. Naturally, in the wasteland that has become the zombie apocalypse, we don’t expect to see a woman in pantyhose (with the exception of fabulous Milla Jovovich as Alice in the awesome “Resident Evil” movies), and I always wondered why the female cast members of the show wouldn’t want to appear on the post-show dressed all girly for a change.

Wouldn’t they want their audience to finally see a different (more elegant) side of them? Many of the actresses do dress up on TD, but they never wear pantyhose, but now that Christian did, she is my new girl crush.

Actress Christian Serratos appears in a sexy outfit, complete with beautiful pantyhose, during a recent advertisement for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).

Of course, I Googled her to see if she’s really a pantyhose kind of girl, or if this appearance on TD was a total aberration. I found only a few pics of her in pantyhose, but that’s OK. To me, it actually makes it even more meaningful that she viewed the occasion of being on TD significant enough to dress beautifully, including wearing sheer nude pantyhose.

Does it seem to you that when a woman today actually does wear pantyhose with a black dress and black heels, it’s almost always black hose? Of course I get it (what we’ve always been taught), but I wish women today didn’t think it’s mandatory to match the shade of hosiery with the color of their shoes. Nude pantyhose are such a beautiful look with a black ensemble (and all other colors really.) So I love Christian Serratos all the more for her good taste in wearing sheer nude pantyhose to go along with her class and elegance.

In all fairness, in looking for the photo of Christian Serratos from TD, I found that there actually was at least one other female star from TWD, Lauren Cohan, who also appeared on the post-show wearing a skirt and pantyhose.

Like Christian, Lauren (who plays prominent character, Maggie) is very feminine in real life. I don’t know any other works she’s done, but in searching the Internet for pics of her in pantyhose, I could find only one, other than the few from her appearance on TD.

That’s really too bad because she is a beautiful girl and has spectacular legs.

Another unexpected treat

I’d never watched the TV series, “Person of Interest,” but not for any reason other than that it just didn’t occur to me to do so. I don’t know at what point it was, but I saw during scenes for an upcoming episode that actress Sarah Shahi had been added to the cast. That got me interested in POI, and I watched an episode or two and liked all the characters, although I am so late coming to the series I really don’t understand much about what’s going on.

I’ve had a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Sarah Shahi because, while I thought she was great in the old “Life” TV series, in her role as a detective, she was always dressed in pants.

Later, when she starred in “Fairly Legal,” I figured that was a role in which it would be appropriate for her to wear pantyhose, but nooooooooo. She went bear-legged. (Hated it. Didn’t watch it.)

I had seen on the Internet the same (like, 3) whole pics you’ve seen of Sarah Shahi in pantyhose (always black), so I was glad to see that she at least knows what pantyhose are. And, oh my gosh, does she look gorgeous in them. But I’d given up any hope of seeing this talented beauty ever wear them on a TV show or movie.

Sarah Shahi often wears a black dress and heels, with her usual bare legs as the character, Sameen Shaw, on the CBS drama, “Person of Interest.”

And, as expected, I found that on POI Sarah’s character (Sameen Shaw) wears mostly all black pants outfits as, I guess, one of the muscles on the team. Otherwise, she wears a black dress and black heels, but, sadly, she’s always bear-legged.

Still, I’d become intrigued with POI, and I was ready for the new season (4) which started Sept. 3. I recorded the premiere episode, but didn’t actually watch it until recently.

The show opens with a female blonde character (she’s a bad guy) in a black dress and heels (bear-legged) who meets a journalist in a bar, and murders him because he’s on to something about Artificial Intelligence about to take over life as we know it.

Subsequently (still in the first few minutes of the show), the scene changes to a fashion department store, the camera fixed on a pair of beautiful sheer nude pantyhose-adorned feet and legs in black heels and a black dress, and as the camera slowly pans upward, I am thinking to myself, please let that be Sarah Shahi’s character, Miss Shaw. And, to my sheer delight, it is.

I could hardly believe it. Finally, I am seeing Sarah Shahi in a little black dress with black high heels and sheer pantyhose. And not black pantyhose, but sheer nude pantyhose. And she looks spectacular.

Of course I am hoping this is a sign of things to come — that we’ll see more of Miss Shaw in sheer nude pantyhose. I also like that the show sticks to some sense of realism, in that the Shaw character, working as a sales associate (as a cover) in a big upscale department store (such as Macy’s) indeed would be expected to wear a dress, heels and pantyhose.

Not amused at having to work in a department store as part of her new cover ID, Sameen Shaw (Sarah Shahi) approaches a team member who came up with the role for her.

After watching that episode, I tried to find that awesome picture of Miss Shaw (bored and feeling the assignment was beneath her), standing in an aisle of the store offering customers a sample of perfume. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found, however, I got one (above) that shows just enough of her legs to see that she’s wearing. And, of course, I did find the premiere teaser video for your viewing pleasure. (You’re welcome.)

Like me, do you ever wonder how some photos from TV and movie scenes make it to the Internet, and some (the best ones) don’t? And if only you or I were in charge, we’d make sure that priceless gems such as this one of Sarah Shahi in sheer nude pantyhose would definitely make it? It’s like, who’s in charge of these things? Doesn’t he or she know the significance of such a shot?

Not since Lucy Liu wore sheer nude pantyhose in one or two episodes of “Elementary” last season, have I been this excited about a character in one of the TV shows I follow, but I have a feeling we won’t be seeing Miss Shaw in sheer pantyhose again, any more often than we’ve since seen Joan Watson in them.

One step forward-one step back. Still, it’s “A treat when pantyhose show up unexpectedly,” and until our favorite celebs become more consistent in choosing this look we love, we can, at least, savor the next surprise.